I’m still bouncing a couple of potential DoPs through my mind, but I’ve already started to think about what format we might shoot on.

Jay Taylor suggested there might be a possibility of shooting on film as he’s working on a deal that might be able to shoot film for a similar price to digital. It sounds like a great idea and I know how much DoPs love to shoot film, but is it the best option?

The other thing I’ve been thinking about is shooting in monochrome. Why?

Well for a start, the film could be thought of as a film noir. The story is about a moral choice, an either or situation the consequences of which will shape the future of a girls life.

Secondly, this film is about being a challenge for me and I haven’t tried to shoot black and white since my days at film school shooting Kodak reversal 7266 and having a go again would be exciting.

Thirdly, I’m quite into the aesthetic at the moment. I’ve been doing a lot of photography recently and there is a lot to be said for having to focus solely of shade and contrast.

Fourthly, (this one’s a bit technical so skip if you get bored) digital monochrome cameras don’t have a bayer filter, which is what colour cameras have to give a colour image, these filters essentially reduce the potential resolution by a third, so not having one our images could have a lot more detail in them. Which could be interesting…

So what are the options:

1) B&W film, probably ultra-16mm. I think it would be the most fun, but it would be quite a commitment, in both shooting and processing times… and do they even make the good stuff anymore?

2) Ikonoskop A-Cam dll Panchromatic. I’ve been following the development of this camera since it was first talked about many moons ago. It shoots in a format called cinema DNG, has a super16 sized chip and a very cool form factor, but given how long it’s been coming, I’m a little worried about how reliable it is. Go on, tell me I’m not sexy.

4) Arri Alexa, shoot in colour and then convert to grey scale. The Alexa is my favourite camera. We shot The Fold on it, but I think doing a conversion is a bit of a cop-out and I would like to make the choice before pre-production, rather than being pressured into changing my mind, into going with colour, in the grading suite.